Todd Carney avoids jail for drink-driving charge

Fair call

Restoring comments after outage – apologies for this issue. The Roar =============== sunshinecoaster Submitted on 2011/04/07 at 12:14 pm I just cant belive the NRL or more so the roosters havent got the balls to say to this guy if we catch you drinking one drop your gone, but no yet again we have them on tv apologizing for Carney being late to court like its mummy telling the teacher why lill Johnny was late for class, its embarrasing for rugby league =============== JVGO Submitted on 2011/04/07 at 8:42 am | In reply to Mick Gold Coast QLD. So the magistrate has now handed Carney his licence back and reduced his community service because the original sentence was untenable as against general sentencing standards. So the standard of the law is actually lower than this story reports, not higher, but because he is a RL player he needs to go to gaol…….perhaps we should enact some specific statutes in regard to high profile RL players, maybe even build some new prisons specifically for these blokes. During the season we could jutst lock them up and only let them out to play. People might be happy then and these mugs might behave. =============== oikee Submitted on 2011/04/07 at 6:21 am What amazes me, if you read between the lines, he was drinking at least a dozen heavies, (he said 8-10) so he has no idea how many he had, which is a hell of alot of beers. And he also said he is a alcoholic, which means he would have been drinking plenty more than this over the last year. As you said, a p-plate as we all know is zero alcohol level. So he was way over the limit, way over. This guy is not a kid, he is 24 for pete’s sake. Every case that now goes to court can be argued along the same lines Carney used, so he has made a mockery of our system. We all might as well do as we please, if we get caught, argue the Carney matter. What a complete joke, like current affair programs and even the news these days, bend it twist it anyway you want it, it’s all a pile of garbage. I am sitting back and waiting for the next current affair program where a report about drink driving levels should be dropped to zero tolerence. Anyhow, time to move on, like i said last time about carney, i will wait for Origin to read about his next stuff-up. Not long now, just hope the blues can hide his next mistake as good as the Roosters have done so far. This guy is a plank, try talking to a plank, go on, see if you can make it roll over. He is 24, some people have a wife Family and bought a house at this age. This guy is just telling anyone who cares to listen, he is a alcoholic. Give me a break, every 24 year old is a alcoholic then. Great excuse for young men. Not my fault, i am a alcoholic.

The law - ever so accommodating of a good excuse, or a poor excuse, or no excuse at all. "mitigating factors" phooey! There's nothing mitigating about form on the board, exceptional form, outstanding podium mounting gold medal winning form! Einfeld got banged up with the judge explicitly setting a higher standard of integrity for him as a public figure breaking the law - there's nothing new in that. They're happy to be public figures who influence people when they're paid to flog underpants or fox hats, but are ever so quick to bleat "No, I'm not a role model" when they're ducking behind anonymity as it suits them.

"everyone will be crucified" ... except the magistrate. They're way more important than "mow(n) down toddlers".

skinner, you pose the question of how a person escapes every time? It helps by getting the very best defense lawyer by paying top dollar to argue your case - an option that Joe Public, in the majority of cases, does not have.

Because Carney has a rap sheet as long as your arm we only have to wait to get rid of the fool from our game.

You have raised a good point, I think this is Carneys 3rd drink driving incident, and about his 12th that involved the police. How does a person escape every time??? If it were Joe Public he would have been locked up quite a while ago. Some comments removed, thanks for bringing them up skinner. Thanks, Roar Mods.

Who knows what the case law is in this exact circumstance. If 99% of people in these exact circumstances (P's, .052, the morning after etc) are locked up then I imagine the public prosecution will appeal. If that isn't the case then I'm sure Carney would have appealed if he'd been sentenced to gaol. The magistrate is way more likely to know the real standards and is unlikely to have gone out on a limb here either way. What did the public prosecutor say? Is he up in arms? has he posted on the Roar yet?

So you would put him in gaol as a danger to society? i think the magistrate would take the risk and safety into account in sentencing. That's why they have magistrates. to interpret the letter of the law and dispense justice. Glad you aren't sitting on the bench Tristan. She has made an inherent judgement that Carney is not going to mow down toddlers in the future, or at least the next 6 months. If she is wrong of course everyone will be crucified, particularly by you guys on the Roar.

There are some mitigating factors. It was not a high end reading etc. And Carney may have believed he wasn't over the limit. .05 is legal and is not considered dangerous. To send someone to gaol for .052 is a little over the top when the level is hardly debilitating to your driving safely. You are really advocating Carney be made an example of because he is RL player not because he is a danger to society. i would say that Carney's offence was foolish but not really gaolable.

A guy I played rugby with had a similar experience in the fact that they were repeat offender, and for less than this joker, and my rugby mate was given a 6 month sentence. There should be zero tolerance for this and a specified consistent consequences. These should be harsh mind you. 1. You drink and drive you loose your licence for a period with a huge fine. 2. You drink and drive again you loose your licence FOREVER and then go to Jail for a period of time. This needs to be raised in a national forum. I cannot believe that Carney has walked away from this. It is a load of you know what

I bet he wasn't on legal aid!

Carney knows it, and the magistrate knows it. Carney will offend again, he will appear in court again and he will get off again. His past is a litaney of problem drinking, speeding and wrecklessness. Until Carney kills someone he never going to jail. Even then he will be done for manslaughter and be out in 18 months to continue his career.

Move to Queensland, it's not a crime here, just another traffic offence!

Magistrates, what are their comments worth? They are soft on real criminals and let them off with slaps on the hand or that the police are overbearing. But a footballers misdemeanor gets a paragraph of grandstanding tripe because they know the decision will get a little bit of publicity!

No. This time the magistrate raised his voice and said it a bit louder in case he didn't hear it last time.

Isn't that the same lesson he was taught last time, "do it again and you 'll be in jail"?? Anyway...

Some people are above the law. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.